Keating v Newcastle Newspapers Pty Limited [No 2]

The case of Keating v Newcastle Newspapers Pty Limited [No 2] involved the plaintiff, Mr Keating, who sought damages for defamation against the defendant, Newcastle Newspapers Pty Limited. Mr Keating alleged that an article published by the defendant's newspaper, The Newcastle Herald, defamed him by implying he was guilty of a crime. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The legal issues the court needed to resolve included whether the imputations made in the article were defamatory, whether they were of a criminal nature, and if the form of the article was objectionable. The court needed to determine if the imputations were capable of lowering Mr Keating in the estimation of ordinary, reasonable people, and if the form of the article was objectionable, potentially rendering it inadmissible as evidence.

In its reasoning, the court found that the imputations made in the article were indeed defamatory as they implied Mr Keating was guilty of a crime. The imputations were considered to be of a criminal nature, which could lower a person in the estimation of ordinary, reasonable people. The court also found that the form of the article was objectionable, as it included personal attacks on Mr Keating and was not limited to a fair and accurate account of the facts. Despite the objectionable form, the court ruled that the article could still be considered as evidence, as the defamatory imputations were clear and unambiguous.

The court ordered Newcastle Newspapers Pty Limited to pay damages to Mr Keating for the defamation caused by the publication of the article. The amount of damages was to be determined at a later date. The court also made an order for the publication of an apology in The Newcastle Herald, to be published in a prominent position, and to include a statement that the imputations made in the article were false and defamatory.